Leverage Your Membership: Marketing & PR
Have you ever thought about how powerful your Coalition membership is?
Coalition members make up a strong, nationwide network of home repair nonprofits. The Coalition has distributed over $300,000 of direct material funding and invested $100,000+ in professional development, training, and certifications. Members have repaired 60,000+ homes, so we know a thing or two about successful home repair programs.
Communicating your membership can leverage it to:
- Increased credibility for your organization
- Demonstrating a long-term commitment to program health and staff professional development
- Elevating your program to a nationwide audience
This post is part 1 of a blog series exploring how your organization can leverage membership. We'll speak to Marketing & PR, Program Management, Fundraising, and Executive Operations. If your organization isn’t a member but wants to take advantage of perks, you can join the Coalition or schedule a discovery call with staff to see if membership fits you.
Eight Ways to Leverage Membership to Meet Local Marketing & PR Goals
1. Apply for Pinnacle Awards
Awards from the Coalition validate your program’s success. Unlike an exclusively local award, Coalition awards recognize your organization among home repair peers nationwide. Winning an award recognizes your organization or nominee at the highest level of excellence possible. In addition to a monetary sum, leveraging awards on your website, sending press releases, and sharing awards on social demonstrates recognized excellence back to your local audience. Awards such as the Partnership Excellence Award or the Advocate of the Year Award offer a strategic opportunity to steward key partners and elevate their contributions to your local community.
Action Item: Applications for Pinnacle Awards are now open. Consider an application for your organization or a nomination for someone in your network.
2. Display A Coalition Membership Badge
Showcase membership via a badge that can be used in digital or print formats. Badges fit easily into a website footer, e-mail newsletter, or printed donor newsletter so you can remind supporters about your commitment to best practices at every point possible. Email Melanie to request a current-year membership badge. Once we confirm your organization is current on dues and your membership level, we can send over your annual badge. You'll receive two versions, full color and white, with a transparent background.
3. Submit Your Organization for a Membership Spotlight
It takes less than 5 minutes to elevate your organization to a nationwide audience. While all our members engage in home repair, delivery methods and missions vary widely. If you have an event or milestone and want to feature your program to a new audience, a membership spotlight can help. You can share the number of homes you've repaired, a homeowner quote, or even elevate a long-term volunteer group and photo to recognize their commitment.
Action item: Submit a membership spotlight request for your organization.
4. Discounted Email Marketing
Benefits like discounted access to Constant Contact help you reduce costs while achieving your marketing goals. Coalition members receive 20% off six months or 25% off the entire year (which is an additional 10% off the standard discounts!). Log-in to the Member Compass for a direct link to access this benefit and see the full details.
5. Announce Completed Training & Certifications
Donors and volunteers take a lot of pride in supporting organizations that invest in best practices, innovative solutions, and ongoing training for staff. As staff, it's our job to remind those supporters how we're doing just that. Sharing a blog post, social media post, or newsletter blurb about training shows supporters their investment supports long-term solutions, organizational health, and builds confidence about future donations to your organization. Recycling that content into a press release is a smart way to potentially earn media attention for your organization.
6. Request Letters of Recommendation
Coalition staff is always ready and willing to offer a letter of support for a grant, award application, or local campaign. Send Coalition staff a draft of your letter with the appropriate details, and we’ll get it back to you in a few days. With 100+ members behind us, a letter of recommendation will showcase your credentials, commitment to growth, and community perspective.
7. Invite Coalition Staff to Speak
Your leadership volunteers are likely knowledgeable about local housing issues, but are they knowledgeable about long-term housing outcomes and home preservation across the country? Coalition staff are available to speak virtually at meetings, serve on a panel of speakers, and educate your stakeholders. Contact Melanie to request a speaker at an upcoming event. If a virtual speaker isn't a fit, we can draft a blog post for your organization to share in a social media post or newsletter.
8. Reinforce Local Priorities
Whether you are writing a grant application or meeting one-on-one with a foundation contact, elevating your membership locally shows your organization values collaboration and best practices. Speak to your organization's participation in special interest groups, special projects such as the Fall Prevention Data Collection Project, or cohorts to reinforce alignment with your local priorities.
How does your organization leverage Coalition membership to meet local marketing and PR goals? Do you have something to add? We'd love to hear how you leverage your membership.
